paperboats

Climate | Action | Scotland | Writing

Paperboats Zine

The urge to explore and celebrate all the kinds of lives of Planet Earth is stronger than ever, but the environmental and ecological crisis demands we also lift our eyes, and our voices, to species extinction and habitat loss, to what is happening to the forests and hills, the rivers and seas, our streets and gardens. The writer’s instinct to pay attention has never been more vital. Literature can help us to see the natural world – and our place in it – differently.

ISSUE ONE: THIS IS WHAT THE WORLD WAS LIKE

Edited by Elaine Morison and Sandy Winterbottom
As nature writers, we are more comfortable in the wild, semi-feral, immersed in the rich diversity of life that has – incredibly – evolved on this planet. Where else in the entire universe might exist gannets or whales or echoes of wolves? It is a rare place indeed, and you will see from these vivid accounts, that this Earth is extraordinary. But you will sense the undertow of fear too. It is the opening line of Chris Powici’s lingering poem, ‘Loch Striven’, titling this issue, that is most haunting of all: ‘This is what the world was like.’ As you read these pieces, remember this phrase; it is time stamped like a watermark through its digital pages.